Compound railway-rail.



No 850,979. PATENTEU APR. 23; 1907. G. B. STEPHENS.

COMPOUND RAILWAY RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12, 1907.

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GEORGE BrSTEPI-IENS, OF SHERMAN, TEXAS.

COMPOUND RAILWAY-RAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed February 12, 1907. Serial No. 357,096.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sherman, in the county of Grayson and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Compound Railway- Rails,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rails which. form tracks for locomotives, cars,and similar wheeled vehicles; and it has particular reference tocompound or built-up rails, such as are composed of detachable sections.

The advantage of this kind of rail over the solid open-jointed rail ingeneral use is that the ends of any two longitudinal sections can alwaysbe joined or brought together at or near the middle of a third section,so that there will be throughout the whole length of the track no openjoints extending across the entire rail, and consequently as the wheelsbear about equally on each section of the rail the concussion orhammering caused by wheels in passing over open-jointed rails, with theattendant shock and injury to the rollingstock and especially to thesuperstructure in case the track is elevated, is almost entirelyprevented.

A difficulty has heretofore been experienced in uniting the sections ofthe compound rail so that they would not spread laterally and thelongitudinal joint become more or less opened. Bolts or rivets have beendepended on solely for this purpose; but heavy tra'liic and lateralstrains cause them to become loosened and spread apart. When this takesplace, their edges will "broom up under the constant pressure of movingtrains, and the rails in a short time become ruined.

The object,therefore, of'my invention is to provide a suitable lockingdevice for the head i of the rail which, with the depending flanges ofthe head firmly riveted or bolted to the web of rail, will effectuallyovercome the spreading tendency above alluded to and enablle me toproduce a practical compound rai Another object is to provide a railwhich shall be free from joints that might vibrate when under strainseither vertically or laterally, a rail which when laid Will be virtuallycontinuous, so that the inevitable open joints that must be made onaccount of expansion and contraction of metals may be rendered lessobjectionable than heretofore.

A further object is to provide a rail adapted to have one-half or all ofthe head thereof removed when worn out and replaced by new parts,thereby avoiding the loss incident to the practice of scrapping wholewornout rails.

A still further object is to provide a laminated rail which mayeliminate the danger of derailment of the cars should a break in asection of the rail occur during cold weather, as is always possible,and a still further object is to provide a rail which may have its mainsustaining part composed of relatively soft metal, so that the liabilityto rupture may be eliminated ina great measure and the head or wearingpart be composed of relatively hard metal adapted to resist the Wearingaction of the loads upon it in service.

Other advantages attained might be enumerated as follows: less firstcost, as large mills would not be required to make them and one-third ofthe number of men usually employed in track-laying would handle them.

The above-mentioned objects are attained in the construction illustratedand fully described herein, the same being simple, cheap, and durable,as well as economical and practical in use.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents a top plan, and Fig. 2 aside elevation, of a rail constructed substantially in conformity to myinvention; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical sectional view of the same,showing particularly the novel features embodied in same; Fig. 4, atransverse vertical sectional view of a detached portion of the web andbase-flange, and Figs. 5 and 6 transverse vertical sectional views ofdetached side portions of the head of the rail.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views.

In practically carrying out my invention the rail-base and web and therail-head with flanges may bemade in any suitable shape that may bedesired or required. The rail as a whole may be designed either for asteamroad or for a street-railway, as may be desired. The invention,however, may be understood by considering its application to awell-known form of T-rail, as shown in the drawings' The rail-base A andweb B are of the usual form and construction and comprise one part ofthe rail pro er. The head or bell, including the head-i anges, isdivided at the center longitudinally in a plane perpendicular to theplane of the head, the latter being horizontal, so that the head iscomposed of two parts C C, formed with inner vertical faces D D, thatabut in the completed rail near the transverse center thereof. The headpart O has a downwardly-projecting flange, and the head part C has alike downwardly projection, the two flanges forming web side portions Eand E, respectively, of the complete web of the rail. The centralportion B of the web is designed to extend between the side portions E Eand to a slight distance within the head C C, and the rail-head isintegrally attached to the central web portion B by any suitable means,asrivets F, extending through suitable holes G G H in a manner similarto that in which angle-bars or splice-bars are attached to rail ends.

It will be understood that each rail proper as, for instance, one thirtyfeet in length will be composed of three principal parts, not includingthe rivets, the parts being equal in length when formed, but notconnected together with their endsin the same planes, as will behereinafter explained.

Considered specifically in transverse section, the parts 0 E arecounterparts of the arts C E, except locking device for the ead, whichwill be explained hereafter. The side parts E E of the head have theirinner faces in a plane parallel to the face of the web, as shown. Theseinner faces extend vertically to a slight distance within the head 0 C,thence outwardly and downwardly to the bottom of face D, so as to formsub stantially inverted-V-shaped grooves I, and when the faces D are incontact a V-shaped rib is thereby formed between the two side portionsof the head at the top of the web portion. The top of the web portionhas a corresponding V shape J, into which the V of the head fits, thusaiding in preventing spreading of the head of rail. As a further lock tothe rail-head the part C is provided with a tongue K, which fits ingroove L, formed in part C, and C has a tongue M, that fits groove N,formed in C, and when the faces D D are in contact the inner faces ofthe head-flanges E E are adjacent to the web B and in position forsecuring.

In laying the rails to form a track the joints of the several parts arestaggered, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the joints 1, 2, 3, &c., ofthe head C O and web B being reinforced by the flanges E E. It will beseen, therefore, that should a fracture occur in any one of thelaminations of the head there will still remain two parts that will beintact, ex cept at a joint, where there will be at least one part todepend upon until repairs could be made without inconvenience to trafficover the road.

As described above, the flanges E E contribute to the lateral strengthof the head C O and also to the web B, as will be obvious.

The manner in which re airs and renewals may be made will be readi yunderstood from the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A compound railway-rail comprising a base and web portion, the webextending centrally from the base portion upwardly, terminating in aV-shaped notch, a pair of head portions, each provided with a flangethat extends downwardly from the head, both of said flanges constructedand arranged to bear against the opposite sides and V at the top of theweb, and connecting devices for the flanges and web portion ex tendingtherethrough, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A compound railway-rail including a pair of head portions providedwith depending flanges, the upper inner faces of which terminate in a Vshape, each of the head portions proper having a tongue and groove forlocking the two portions of the head together with the web portion, andconnecting devices extending through the flange sides and web centralportion in a plane above the base, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

3. In a railway-rail, the combination of the pair of head portions eachprovided with an interlocking tongue and groove, and a depending flange,the base portion having a central web portion extending upwardly fromsaid base, and terminating in a V-shaped notch, the head attached to thesides of said central web and bearing upon the top of the same, and theretaining-rivets extending through said flange portions and central web,substantially as and for the purposes shown and described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. STEPHENS.

Witnesses:

CLINT M. OROOKSHANKS, J. P. DEDERIOK.

